Finally...a haircut!

Well, we continue to get closer to the trip, 5 days to go.

I have been feeling that Abhi's hair is a little out of control, even though I love all those curls (which he did not get from me). So, after his bath last night, I wrestled him and carefully cut the back of his hair in to a nice, neat line. I must say it was not a bad effort seeing I was working with mister busy body. So, he got is first haircut and it looks pretty cute. He still has his curls but they look much more in control.

We have been shopping, getting all the necessities for the trip, but otherwise life as usual. Today, we meet Sandy and Sachin so the boys could play at the playground in the mall. I know it sounds ridiculous to go to a mall to play but they have a really nice play area with a soft floor. I really am not a mall fan but it is nice for the play area. I try to just dart out the door without looking and spending money. Works sometimes better than others. It went well today. Sachin is starting to walk! Yeah! Next time we see them, they will both be running around the playground. Sachin was saying Abhi's name by the time we left. Abhi, of course, is oblivious because all he wants to do it run and climb and try and escape from the play area. If I just let him run into the mall, I wonder what he would think when he looked back and I was not there. Probably nothing he would wonder on and visit with people! Like I said, mister busy body.

Keshav has Abhi swinging the tennis racket; a mini one his size. He showed him once over the weekend and now when he picks it up, he starts swinging. Course, he may knock himself or others out. But we may have a tennis player. He is also really ambitious about and good at throwing balls (and water bottles that are full of water). He has great hand-eye coordination. It these things are any indication, he should be pretty good at sports.

Abhi is saying paatti and taattaa (grandma and grandpa in Tamil). He is probably not sure what they mean yet but he will find out soon!

The countdown to India is on...

We leave for India in 7 days. K's family is waiting anxiously to see Abhi!! We can't wait for them to enjoy Abhi and all the things he is up to.

After the birthday party, we have been laying low. That was kind of the big event we were building up to. Then, we had to come back down from all the excitment. We now have a one year old which is hard to believe most days. Seems like Abhi just arrived! Grandma also left right after the party, so it was back to our normal routine. I had not even given Abhi a bath in over a week because that became Grandma time. So, we have settle back in doing the usual; pool a couple times, park/swing, and some shopping to get ready for the trip. The next big thing is the trip.

We have also been doing babygarten (storytime for babies at the library). We go every wednesday morning. Abhi is becoming one of the big kids now. It is for 0-18 months so there are some tiny babies coming. He is now one of the walkers and is able to go away from mommy and stand in the middle of the circle and watch miss Jennifer up close as we do the rhymes and songs. He is enjoying exploring his freedom. Then after we do the rhymes, songs, and book it's playtime. He has fun playing with all the toys and has to pay attention that no one steals the toys he has in his hands. He is at the age where grabbing is the thing with no concept of sharing or playing with other kids. Here are some pictures of us at babygarten...

The Birthday Party!

We had the birthday party at Baldwin park in Manassas last Saturday. The weather turned out just perfect, not too hot and no rain, yeah!! It is a nice little place with picnic tables, a playground and lots of shade trees. Grandma was here to help plan, shop, and make food for the party which was great because it would have been a lot harder without her help. Thanks Mom! Plus, she stayed home while Abhi was still napping until the party so we could go and set up before guests arrived.

We ended up having a great turn out and lots of kids so the playground was great idea. Abhi did get to do some swinging and his usual investigation and picking up and eating mulch, sticks, and dirt. We had tons of food! We made way too much, but better than not enough. Plus we can live on it until we are off to India shortly...not much cooking! Just picnic fare; sandwiches, chips and dip, hummus and pita, veggies, watermelon and, of course, cake and cupcakes.

After eating and playing we gathered everyone up for singing. All the kids got party hats and noisemakers. Abhi sat in his highchair in awe while everyone sang, then when the noisemakers went off it scared him and he started crying. Poor guy, but the video is priceless! Keshav had to rescue him out of the high chair and settle him down before he would eat some cake. That did not take long and soon he was covered in green icing! Here is the birthday boy....


When we got home, we ran into our neighbors Teri, Ajia, and Eli who did not make it to the park. They had us come over for more bday celebrations since they missed out. More singing and cupcakes...and finally a glass of wine for us! Abhi had more bday cupcake, this time he covered himself in yellow.
It was a wonderful day of celebration with lots of friends!!! We can hardy believe a year has already gone by! Our little boy is growing up fast. We only hope the years to come are as wonderful as the first!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Abhi!!!

Abhi is now a year old, hard to believe. The year went by so fast!!! He had a fun birthday, although he is still dealing with some of those darn teeth! Grandma and I took him to babygarten (storytime for babies at the library) in the morning. Then we went to the mall and grandma got him some new jammies (one is featured in the new side bar picture). Abhi ate a quick lunch and it was off to play in the play area in the mall. He napped on the way home while grandma and I stopped for lunch and shopping at trader joes. He got up, played more at home with grandma, ate, took his bath, and it was off to bed. We will celebrate this weekend with friends having a picnic in the park and that is when Abhi will get some birthday cake. It was a fun day!!! See his new picture on the sidebar taken on the big day.

Grandma, Keshav, and I celebrated with ice cream from coldstone creamery after Abhi was asleep. Just what we needed! Also, K brought me some beautiful flowers to celebrate the first year of parenthood. Here they are...













Abhi received some cards and money...thanks for that!!!

Grandma, Doctor, Parties and Picnics....

Before getting started with what Abhi has been up to, I must add a few more things to the "things Abhi can do" list (that I forgot and he has just started). He can also...

Dance
Give a Kiss
Imitate sounds and some words
Is now saying "mummum time" and last night he said "night night appa"
Moo when asked 'what does the cow say?'

Last Wednesday, Grandma arrived so I am taking advantage of her help big time. I have been coming and going as I please with all my errands and getting to the gym a lot more. I actually was able to go for a run outside this morning...can't remember the last time that happened. Also, K and I went to the movie and dinner/drinks last Friday night...also been awhile for that one! Abhi is enjoying Grandma and keeping her busy with his schedule.

Thursday we went to the doctor for Abhi's year exam...good to have grandma because back to the days of 4 shots. Abhi has not gained much weight since the 9 mos appt. Just a few ounces, so he is currently 22lbs 12 ounces. He did get considerably taller growing 4 inches and is now 30 in total. He handled the shots pretty well and did not cry too much. He was back to himself after his bottle smiling and playing peek-a-boo with people in the waiting room. He did not have a fever with this set of shots either, so all went smooth.

Saturday morning we were up and on the move early. We had a birthday party to attend for our Friends Oscar and Jennifer's daughter Fiona. She is going to be 2 . Abhi (well, mommy) got to paint a small pot and then it was time to run through the sprinkler and dip in the baby pool in the back yard. Abhi was the only boy running around with lots of little girls. We had pizza (peas and rice too for Abhi) and cupcakes for lunch. It was a nice party!!

Then, we were off for the afternoon to K's work picnic in Harrisonburg. So, it was naptime for Abhi during the 2 hour drive. They had the picnic in a big camp with tennis, pool, horseback riding, canoeing, etc... It was really nice but extremely hot so we decided to hit the pool. Abhi floated around in his baby float and it was great to just cool off in the pool!! We were planning tennis and other activities especially since grandma was with us to watch Abhi, but time got away from us and it was just so darn hot. Plus, we forgot the bug spray...do not forget that when you go into the forest in Va. We stayed and had dinner at the picnic then it was back in the car, back to sleep for Abhi, for the 2 hour drive home. We were all beat!!!

Sunday was and all day shopping/planning day for Abhi's birthday party. We are inviting friends for a picnic in the park next Saturday to celebrate the big event. Can you believe it, Abhi will be 1 this week!!! So more to come as the boy turns 1...